Chapter 16: Bitchin' in the Kitchen
Sennia's breathing had started to get ragged and strained from her sleep. She was having another nightmare. I shook her shoulder but to no avail. It seemed just touching her made her whimper.
"Sennia?" I tapped her back lightly as to not disturb her again.
"Otho, stop." Sennia whined in pain and fear.
"Sennia, he's dead. You're safe with me." I reassured.
"Vulpes!" She shouted from her sleep.
I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her violently. Her head thumped on the pillow roughly.
"Oh, Vulpes. I was so fucking scared." Sennia wrapped her arms around me tightly. I kissed her head over and over again.
"You're safe with me, Sennia. He's not coming back. I'll burn in hell before I let another man like him touch you. He's rotting on a cross where he belongs."
Her breathing was slowing but was still heavy from post-nightmare stress. She cried freely into my shoulder. Her hair was damp from sweat.
"I'll get you some water. Are you hungry?" I asked.
She nodded. "Do you think you can just get me something easy for my stomach?"
"Yes, love." I stood up reluctantly and left the tent.
Lucius stood several feet away from the kitchen. I ushered him over.
"Yeah?"
"I need you to keep an eye on her until I get something for her to eat. Can you do that? She just had a nightmare and I know she'd feel safer with one of us staying with her."
"Was it what happened with Otho?" He asked with concern.
"Uh, yeah. By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something?"
"Well, ask."
"Did you know what he did to her before I came back?" I said as I kicked the dust around.
"Yes. I knew." Lucius said with what sounded like guilt.
The hair on the back of my neck bristled. "Did you plan on doing anything or were you just going to let him slide?"
Lucius glared at me intensely. "I was poisoning his food in the mornings. I wanted his punishment to come from both of us. I knew you would do much worse." He paused. "I wanted the wait for your punishment to be very indecent."
"You knew I would kill him?"
"We all fucking did. Now go get her something to eat." Lucius pushed me towards the kitchen and stepped halfway inside the tent to let Sennia know he was there to protect her. And let others around know he was protecting her.
I fumbled around in the refrigerator before pulling out a bottle of water and an apple. An apple a day keeps the rapist away.
I was definitely not saying that anywhere near her though. I closed the fridge to come face to face with Siri, the Kitchen Bitch.
She cleared her throat loudly. "What do you think you're doing? That's stealing."
I rolled my eyes. "When you steal NCR equipment, you're my bitch. What happens when I 'steal' Legion equipment?"
"Then you're Caesar's bitch." She scoffed and folded her arms.
"I should have your mouth sewn shut and your ears filled with hot oil, but I'm feeling nice today." I pushed past her her and out of the kitchen. She fumed behind me.
Lucius stepped aside to let me in the tent. Sennia was curled up under the blanket.
"She hasn't moved much. I think she's crying. I don't know. She won't talk to me." Lucius admitted.
I knelt down and set the apple and water aside. "Love, I need you to sit up."
"I don't want to." She mumbled.
"Don't be a child, Sennia. I need you to sit up so you can eat and drink." I nudged her shoulder with the bottle of water.
She turned to look at me. "You're the child."
"How the hell am I the child? You're being immature. You're a grown woman. I know you just had a bad dream but you can't let it define you. You're only letting him win even after death. It's what he wanted."
"I can't just forget about it. You've never had to go through that sort of thing." She turned back over to hide her face from the light. I don't see how she can always stay under the blanket in this desert heat.
"I'm not asking you to forget. I'm asking to let yourself grow past it. And no, I don't know what it's like. But I do know what it's like to have the person you love them most get hurt like that and be utterly helpless even after killing him. I don't know what you want me to do, Sennia. I've never had to be in this situation. I don't know how to handle it. I feel utterly useless."
"I'm just gonna go, Vulpes. I think I should go check on Caesar." Lucius said from the entrance uncomfortably.
"Tell him I'll be there soon if he asks."
"Sure thing." Lucius mumbled as he left the tent.
I turned back to Sennia. "Now, are you going to eat? You said you were hungry."
"I'll eat. Just go back to Caesar." She wouldn't look at me.
"Don't be like that." I pleaded.
"Like what? I'm not doing anything. You have a duty to Caesar."
"You know exactly what you're doing. You won't look at me and you're acting like I don't care about you. You know that is bullshit. And you know that I have duty to you, too."
She yanked the apple from my hand and took a bite. "Just go. He probably needs you. And I don't feel like being whipped again if I can help it."
"You know, that's really fucking nice of you to bring that up as if I wanted to hurt you." I stood from the cot ready to leave if she continued.
"Hasn't stopped you before." Her eyes widened at her own words. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone that far. I'm so sorry."
I dropped the water to the ground. Her eyes held sorrow and regret. I turned on my heel and stomped out of the tent. She didn't follow me. I heard a muffled "I'm so fucking stupid."
Caesar's tent wasn't too far. I stepped in and took my place by the side of the throne as always. My jaw was set in a hard line and my limbs were cold.
"The battle shall come upon us within the next month. Are you ready for it?" Caesar asked.
"Yes, my lord. Are you feeling any better? Do you need me to look further into medical research for your ailment?"
"I don't believe that will be necessary. A patrol found a machine used in the vault for surgery with spare parts we can use for the one here. My headaches are getting worse and I've been spacing out periodically." Caesar admitted.
"We can always start the sacrifices again. They seemed to be working for the time we were performing them." I suggested.
"We shouldn't waste the brahmin. We will need them for the troops." He looked at me and noticed something was off. "You know, Vulpes. If you ever want to get rid of that pest, just say so. I can make her disappear like this." Caesar snapped his fingers.
"No, my lord. We are fine."
"That's not what I heard. I hear you two fight like cats and dogs. Are you sure you two are 'fine'?"
"Yes, my lord." I clenched my fists gently to relieve my rage.
No matter how much we fight, I will always love her and protect her. She is mine. I am hers.
She is my love.
"How about something to get her off your mind?" Caesar tapped his fingers on the arm of his throne. "We need to expand our alliances. Have you heard of the Boomers?"